The Shelby County Commission has au­thorized County Engineer Randy Cole and County Attorney Butch Ellis to take steps necessary to acquire land for a bridge re­placement project on Shelby County 17 in Maylene.

The county plans to replace the existing Beaverdam Creek bridge. It will also widen a stretch of Shelby County 17 from near Creekview Elementary to Shelby County 26 as part of the project.

Cole recently told commissioners the county still needs about 11 tracts of land to be able to do the job.

Tom Grimes, assistant county engineer, said a bid for the Maylene project is sched­uled to be awarded in April.

If that happens on schedule, workers could be on the job site by May, Grimes said.

Traffic on Shelby County 17 will not be detoured during the work, he said.

The county will build a diversion road be­fore the existing bridge is replaced, Grimes said.

The project also will not affect a nearby private cemetery where Revolutionary War veteran David Lindsay, a couple of his fam­ily members and a number of slaves are be­lieved to be buried, Grimes said.

The county worked closely with the Ala­bama Historical Commission on the pro­ject, he said.